E.J. for MilitarySpouse.com: Busting The Myths Of Sexual Assault

This article was original published on MilitarySpouse.com and is being reprinted here with permission from the author/owners of that site.

The US Military, historically, has been a petri-dish of sorts for many radical shifts in American culture-from racial integration, to women entering the workforce, and even more recently with the repeal of DADT and DOMA for LGBT identified service members. The current hot topic, notably, is sexual assault.

As a counselor and advocate, a majority of my professional life focuses on working with survivors of sexual abuse. Through this work, I’ve found that for mainstream American culture (of which the military is a part), one of the major barriers to justice for survivors is the prevalence of myths surrounding rape/sexual assault. Today, I’ve outlined several of the currently accepted statistics, as well as four of the myths I encounter most frequently…